


late night texts (and other bad ideas when you're drunk)

by vexatioustothespirit



Series: parts of thoughts and fragments of ourselves [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, I just know my favs are drunk and gay, here are some dumb drunk idiots for you, is it fluffy? is it sad?, who knows not me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 09:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18775480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexatioustothespirit/pseuds/vexatioustothespirit
Summary: 2:24 AM | Catra: I miss you





	late night texts (and other bad ideas when you're drunk)

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written for a fandom in 5 years but these fuckers drove me out of retirement.
> 
> edit: I decided I wanted to write more about college Adora and Catra so I made this into a series, though each one can stand on their own because one-shots are the only thing I trust myself to write. Enjoy.

_“Whooo!! Three dollar fireball shots!!”_

_“This is definitely the greatest worst decision I’ll be making all week.”_

Adora groaned, placing her phone screen-down on the desk in front of her after the snapchat finished. Why had she decided taking the maximum number of credits this semester was a good idea? Thirsty Thursdays were eternally just out of reach for her, but clearly not for Bow and Glimmer.

With a sigh, she slid her phone onto do not disturb in an effort to focus better on the textbook in front of her. Time to focus.

Focus time.

The time.

In which.

We.

Focus.

....

This was not going well.

She stared at the clock.

11:54 PM.

If she got it together and finished this, she could maybe get out in the next hour and at least join Bow and Glimmer for a drink before the bars closed. Lord knows she needed a break.

That’s it, that’s what she was going to do. She was gonna do the hell out of this homework and then she was gonna do the hell out of a $3 fireball shot.

“It’s go time,” she mumbled to herself, picking up her pen with newfound determination. No problem.

* * *

 By the time she woke up from passing out on her notes, it was 3:08 AM.

“Nnnnnoooooo....” she groaned softly, wiping away a trail of drool from her cheek. “Not again...”

Mentally preparing herself to apologize to Bow and Glimmer for once again failing to go out with them, she picked up her phone to scroll through the notifications. As she expected, they were numerous:

Snap from Glimmer

Snap from Glimmer

Snap from Bow

Text from Glimmer

Text from Mermista (aw man Mermista was out with them?!)

Text from Catra

Snap from Bow

Text fr—

Wait.

Adora felt like the wind was knocked out of her. Text from Catra?! Catra? CATRA?

Catra hadn’t texted her in well over a year, all of their interactions had been cold and abrasive since they’d had their falling out.

Adora’s fingers hesitated over her screen for nearly a minute, unsure if she was prepared to read what the text said. Unsure if she even wanted to read it—unsure at what she was even expecting or why she was even expecting honestly what could it be and

She swiped her phone open.

 **2:24 AM | Catra** : I miss you

Adora blinked several times, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to formulate a thought. Eventually, she was forced out of her stupor when her lungs gave her a reminder that she did indeed need air, and that it would be a good idea to resume breathing.

_I miss you??_

What did that mean?

_I miss you??_

Where was this coming from?

_I miss you?????_

What was she

What

“ADOOOOORA!”

Adora yelped, dropping her phone as Glimmer burst into her bedroom. “Jesus, Glim, what are you still doing up?”

Her shorter friend gave a lopsided grin, leaning on Adora. “Bow and I just got back. We got pancakes.”

Adora’s face crinkled in confusion. “There are no nearby pancake places open at this hour.”

“Yeah, we broke into some rando’s apartment,” she replied with a yawn. “Well, broke in is a strong phrase, they let us in, we didn’t do anything bad, there were pancakes involved, you get it.”

“I don’t get it,” Adora deadpanned.

Glimmer waved her hand dismissively. “You get it.” She glanced over at Adora’s desk. “Are you really still working? Adora you need to relax.”

“Yeah I—“ Adora cut off as she noticed her phone, lying screen up to the singular text from Catra. Immediately, she scrambled to snatch her phone before Glimmer could notice. “—IIII finished up the things I have due tomorrow so we can hang out tomorrow night! Hahaha!” Adora said, tacking on an awkward laugh just for good measure.

Fortunately for her, the inebriated Glimmer did not seem to notice her nervous behavior. “Good you better! You work too much,” she slurred, reaching out a finger to touch Adora’s nose. “Boop. And with that, I am gone. Woooosh.”

(Never mind that her exit from the room involved her nearly tripping on the doorway.)

Adora smiled fondly after her friend before the memory of Catra’s text came crashing back to her. For the second time, she felt as if the wind were knocked out of her as her mind turned over and over.

3:16 AM.

She stared at the screen again, hoping that another text might have appeared. Hell, she’d even take a “wrong number” text. At least that way she could stop thinking about it. But, nope—

 **2:24 AM | Catra:** I miss you

Her fingers moved in useless circles over her keyboard. What should she say? Should she even say anything? It was obviously a drunk text, and Adora was not drunk. It maybe didn’t seem fair to respond, then.

Right?

Maybe?

 **2:24 AM | Catra:** I miss you

“I miss you too,” she typed, her finger hovering over the send button. Without her bidding, a stifled sob broke through. She brought a hand to her eyes and it came away wet. Oh. She hadn’t even noticed her eyes filling with tears.

I miss you so fucking much it hurts.

You’re the one who knows me best.

It kills me that we don’t talk anymore.

Why do you have to be such a bitch all the time.

Can we just be friends again.

I’d give anything to fix things between us.

I’m so sorry.

But this is also your fault.

WHY do you have to be such a bitch.

God I miss you SO FUCKING MUCH.

 **2:24 AM | Catra:** I miss you

“Fuck,” said Adora through clenched teeth, throwing her phone onto her bed as the tears started coming in earnest.

Fuck you.

I miss you.

Fuck you.

I miss you too.

Fuck you.

Fuck this.

Fuck...

Adora collapsed on her bed, giving up her fight against her tears. Her sobs only stopped when sleep finally overcame her.

* * *

This time when Adora woke up, the clock read 10:23 AM.

_Fucking hell, I forgot to set an alarm. I was too distracted by—_

The ache returned immediately, but was swiftly replaced by dread. _Fuck, did I send that text?_

Hastily, she unlocked her phone

 **2:24 AM | Catra:** I miss you

And, the unsent text in the field below:

I miss you too

She wasn’t sure if the feeling that washed over her was disappointment or relief.

* * *

 Adora was horribly distracted the entire day. She checked her texts more often than she was proud of.

 **2:24 AM | Catra:** I miss you

She could have replied in the morning, but in the light of day she couldn’t convince herself to do it. This felt like a conversation for the darkness of night, and the light had spoiled it.

(That didn’t stop her from checking her phone over and over, hoping for another text that never came.)

* * *

 The problem sets she turned in were not her best work, but they were turned in and that was enough.

 **4:44 PM | Adora:** This week sucked, we’re going out tonight.

 **4:45 PM | Glimmer:** YAAAAAAYYY

 **4:45 PM | Bow:** YAAAAAAAAYYYYY 😍😍

 **4:45 PM | Glimmer:** YAAAAAAAAAYAYAYAAAYYY

Adora smiled. Her friends really were the best. This was going to be exactly what she needed to get her mind off of things.

* * *

 Adora was definitely drunk.

Definitely very, VERY drunk.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this drunk.

(Maybe she’d remember again when she was sober, but, honestly, it didn’t feel terribly important right now.)

They’d decided to go to a frat party and, after a few rounds of beer pong, found themselves on the dance floor. The music was loud, the drinks were bad, and Adora was having the time of her life laughing and dancing with Bow and Glimmer. This was the perfect thing to get her mind off of--

She froze. “Catra.”

Bow, unable to hear her over the sound of the music, cupped his hands over his mouth. “What?” When Adora continued to just stand facing forward with her mouth agape, Bow turned to follow her line of sight. “Oh!” he said, turning and pointing. “Hey look, Catra’s here!”

“What?” Glimmer turned to look as well. “Ugh, of course she’d happen to show up at this party, she ruins everything. C’mon, let’s go and get some more drinks and hope she goes away.” With that, she started pushing past people to get through to the next room and Bow moved to follow her.

Adora made no move to follow.

“Catra,” she whispered.

 **_2:24 AM | Catra:_ ** _I miss you_

Her chest tightened. She should really move, it didn’t seem like Catra had noticed her yet, she could maybe make it the whole night without Catra noticing. She was having such a great time with Bow and Glimmer, she should get back to that and just forget that Catra was even here.

Just--

Catra began to shove her way out of the room in the opposite direction of Bow and Glimmer.

Oh, okay, that was easy. No problem, Catra was probably leaving, she wouldn’t have to worry about running into her anymore.

…

Adora followed her.

* * *

 The brisk December air made Adora shiver when she stepped onto the back porch, though it was not an unwelcome change from the sweaty interior. A few others scattered on the porch seemed to have the same idea--all were underdressed to be outside for any extended period of time.

And there was Catra.

She was facing away from Adora, leaning against the porch railing.

_You can still turn back._

Adora walked forward, positioning herself to the right of Catra.

“Hey, Catra.”

In the second it took Catra to turn and face her, hundreds of possibilities of what she was about to say turned over in her head, most of which were in the lines of “fuck off.” Instead, her expression softened.

“Hey, Adora,” she replied, the hint of a smile on her face.

Well, that was the nicest Catra had been to her in ages. Other than--

 **_2:24 AM | Catra:_ ** _I miss you_

Adora’s mouth opened and closed several times, searching for something, anything to talk about other than that. Just like her to walk in, having not actually thought through what she was going to do--

Catra’s smile grew into a smirk as she watched. “Cat got your tongue?”

She snapped her jaw shut at that. “I was just trying to…” What _was_ she trying to do? “I just…”

“You just what?”

“Never mind, this was stupid.”

Catra paused, then shrugged. “Okay.”

“I’m gonna go.”

Another shrug. “Okay.”

She didn’t move. The pit in her stomach was aching.

Catra lazily eyed her up and down. “You gonna fuck off or what?”

Adora’s mouth dropped open, then closed as she scowled. The pit in her stomach transformed into a ball of fire. “You know what? Fuck you.”

“Well fuck you, too,” Catra returned, turning away to face the darkness.

“No, fuck you,” Adora reached forward and grabbed Catra’s shoulder, turning her to face her. Catra slapped her hand away.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled.

“What the fuck is wrong with _you_?” Adora yelled right back.

“The fuck? I was just standing here enjoying my drink until you came over here and started shoving me and yelling at me.” She took another swig of her drink. “Fucking hell Adora.”

“You can’t do this, it’s not fair!”

“What, drink outside? Half the people here are underage but you don’t seem to be complaining about them--”

“You can’t just text me I miss you after all this time!”

That silenced Catra. For a moment, Adora could have sworn she looked hurt, before she scowled again and turned to resume leaning on the railing. “I didn’t text you.”

The pit in the bottom of her stomach returned. Adora stepped forward, leaning around to look at Catra. “Are you kidding me? I got a text from you last night.”

“Are you deaf? I didn’t fucking text you.”

What the fuck? Adora took a step back, stumbling slightly. It felt like the floor had been yanked out from under her. Her world was spinning, she couldn’t find her footing, what did Catra mean she didn’t text--

“Jesus, Adora.” Catra was gripping onto her, holding her up. Adora looked up slowly. Oh. She actually _had_ been falling.

The two locked eyes. Time froze for just a moment (Catra's eyes were ever so lovely). For a moment there was no one else around them, but then Catra abruptly let go and shoved her hands into her pockets. “Learn to hold your fucking alcohol,” she grumbled gruffly, but her heart clearly wasn’t in it.

Adora’s anger had subsided as quickly as it had come. She studied Catra, a slightly quizzical expression on her face. Catra scoffed.

“The fuck you doing now? You brain damaged or something?”

“Why won’t you admit you texted me?” persisted Adora.

“I already told you, I didn’t--”

“Catra, I literally have my phone with me right now.”

Catra rolled her eyes. “Okay maybe I did text you.” She jabbed a finger in Adora’s chest. “But it’s not like you fucking replied.”

Adora paused, feeling distinctly guilty. “I… didn’t know what to say,” she replied weakly.

Catra looked unmistakingly hurt this time before her expression once again darkened. “Yeah, okay, I was right, you can fuck right off,” she growled, roughly snatching her drink and starting down the stairs.

It took Adora’s intoxicated brain a moment to catch up. “Wait… no! Catra!” She caught up with her at the bottom of the stairs, reaching out a hand to grab her shoulder, but before she could, Catra whirled around.

“What?! What do you want?!” she demanded. “If you’re just here to make fun of me, I’m not fucking sticking around for that.”

“What? I’m not here to make fun of you--”

“Then what the fuck are you doing, bringing up my stupid drunk text?”

“Jesus, Catra, I’m trying to say I miss you, too!”

For the first time in their conversation, Catra actually looked surprised. She didn’t have an immediate snarky reply. She didn’t scowl and look away. She didn’t yell back. The silence hung between them, the clouds of air created by their breaths the only evidence the two weren’t statues.

Finally, Catra spoke: “Well why the fuck didn’t you say that earlier?” Though her words were harsh, her voice was soft.

“I...  I was scared.” Adora closed some of the distance between them. “I’m sorry.”

Catra averted her gaze with a small “ _tch_ ,” but Adora continued. “It caught me off guard, I didn’t know how to feel after everything that’s been going on between us lately and I…” Here, Adora also averted her gaze. “...after everything I miss you so fucking much Catra but I was too scared to get my hopes up that you… that maybe we could… I don’t know, go back to the way things used to be.”

Catra rolled her eyes, but shifted closer to Adora. “Things aren’t that easy, princess.”

“I know, but…” Adora trailed off helplessly. The two were practically pressed against each other at this point. Again, Adora found herself studying Catra’s face. Several strands of her hair had fallen out of place. Without thinking, Adora raised her hand to brush them out of the way. At Catra’s surprised expression, Adora immediately jerked her hand back. “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” She pursed her lips in thought. “I’m drunk,” she added for good measure.

Catra chuckled. “I’ve noticed.” After a pause, she lifted her hand to brush the hair out of Adora’s face, and then moved to cup Adora’s cheek in her hand. Adora found herself immediately closing her eyes and leaning into her touch. This time, neither made a move to back away. “I’m pretty drunk, too,” she murmured as her thumb began to gently stroke her cheek, eliciting a soft smile from Adora.

“I’ve really missed you,” Adora said, her voice wavering slightly.

“I’ve missed you too,” replied Catra, her voice barely above a whisper. Adora’s heart fluttered as she finally heard the words out loud. “I’m still mad at you, though.” A pause. “But not tonight.”

Adora opened her eyes. Catra was staring at her mouth. “Not tonight?” she asked softly, her heartbeat quickening.

“Not tonight,” agreed Catra, her finger finally slowly trailing down to Adora’s lips. “You’re still really annoying.”

“Okay,” whispered Adora.

“And pompous.”

“Okay.”

“And you can be a real bitch sometimes.”

“So can you.”

“Fair enough.”

A beat.

“This is a terrible idea.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go back to being mad at you in the morning.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

There was another beat, then it was impossible to tell who leaned forward first to press their lips together.

* * *

  **1:34 AM | Glimmer:** aodra awe lost you hwered oyu go

 **2:02 AM | Glimmer:** holy shitT ARE YOUMAKIJN G OUT WIGH CTRA

**Author's Note:**

> I've had writers block for years and I stayed up late so I could write this in a day so it fucking goes
> 
> they say write what you know and I know a lot about making questionable drunk decisions so here we are


End file.
